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| Afghanistan |
| Suicide bombers strike Afghan city |
| 2009-07-26 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] Seven suicide bombers tried to storm security targets in an Afghan city yesterday, wounding personnel and a girl in the third Taliban commando raid in a week, authorities said. Part of an increasingly deadly Taliban insurgency, the attacks underscored the vulnerability of Western-backed government forces less than four weeks before landmark elections and raised concerns for the security of the polls. The interior ministry said "seven suicide bombers blew themselves up" in different parts of the eastern city of Khost, which is close to the border with Pakistan, where Islamist militants have carved out safe havens. "All of the bombers who had suicide vests on their bodies were identified and fired at by our brave police before they reached their targets," it said. Three of the bombers set off their explosives in front of the town's police headquarters while another targeted the rear of the facility, it said. Nearby, one suicide attacker tried to storm a police post, another detonated near a police rapid reaction unit and a seventh targeted a bank near the city centre, the interior ministry said. Two police were injured in the attacks, the ministry added, but officials warned the toll would rise. "There are casualties but at this moment we don't know exactly how many people have been killed and injured," said defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi. Azimi said some of the attackers were armed with machine guns and rocket launchers and exchanged fire with security forces before detonating their explosive-laden vests, although the interior ministry did not confirm this. At least one of the bombers detonated a car rigged with explosives in front of the police headquarters, but that blast caused no casualties. Four injured people, including three security personnel and an eight-year-old girl, were admitted to Khost hospital, a doctor said. Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, called AFP from an undisclosed location and said the insurgent Islamist group was behind the attacks. "Thirteen of our suicide bombers attacked government buildings in Khost," Mujahed said. Taliban members are known to exaggerate their claims. On Tuesday, five people died when eight suicide bombers, some dressed as women and carrying guns, tried to storm official property in two Afghan cities, exposing the vulnerability of the government in the run-up to key elections. Afghan authorities said later that police arrested seven would-be suicide bombers, who would have inflicted mayhem in further coordinated strikes against the Western-backed government. Khost has become one of the most dangerous cities in Afghanistan over the last six months and the scene of repeated deadly attacks. The eastern province is just across the border from Pakistan's wild Waziristan tribal region, where US and Afghan officials accuse Islamist militants of plotting attacks on troops across the border. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 A hearty "Well done!" to the truly brave policemen of Afghanistan. May this be how that story ends there, from now on. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-07-26 19:07 |